Dictionary

beauty is only skin deep en · X

Pronunciation

• (General-American) audio

Etymology

First use appears c. 1809, although beauty is but skin-deep appears much earlier.

Meanings

1. A person's character matters more than their appearance.
   • "Handsome those that handsome do say I; beauty is only skin deep; it is the principle of the heart I consider. 1809, Francis Lathom, London, Or, Truth Without Treason, A Novel, page 2:
   • Isn’t it time the marketing budgets were reapportioned to the bones and muscles of the building themselves? At present, the beauty in London’s building boom is barely skin deep. 2014 September 25, Hugo Macdonald, “Could those utopian hoardings for new developments get any more nauseating?”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
   • And she graced the transition. Beauty is only skin-deep, but the nerves lie very near to the skin. Nerve—but just here will you oblige by perusing again the quotation with which this story begins? 1910, O. Henry [pseudonym; William Sydney Porter], “The Girl and the Habit”, in Strictly Business: More Stories of the Four Million, New York, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, →OCLC:

Forms

Relateds

it's what's inside that counts

Synonyms

beauty is but skin-deep

Translations (16)

ru вне́шность обма́нчива (a person's character is more important than their outward appearance) · pt quem vê cara não vê coração (a person's character is more important than their outward appearance) · id laksana bunga dadap, sungguh merah berbau tidak (a person's character is more important than their outward appearance) · vi cái nết đánh chết cái đẹp (a person's character is more important than their outward appearance) · ga ní hí an bhreáthacht a bhruitheann na prátaí (a person's character is more important than their outward appearance) · ms laksana buah dedap, sungguh merah berbau tidak (a person's character is more important than their outward appearance) · ar الجمال جمال الروح (a person's character is more important than their outward appearance) · ga más peaca bheith buí tá na mílte damanta (a person's character is more important than their outward appearance) · ja 美人というも皮一重 (a person's character is more important than their outward appearance) · bg външността лъже (a person's character is more important than their outward appearance) · ms بواه ماسق مره بلوم تنتو مانيس راسڽ (a person's character is more important than their outward appearance) · pl pozory mylą (a person's character is more important than their outward appearance) · nl uiterlijk schoon is slechts vertoon (a person's character is more important than their outward appearance) · ms لقسان بواه ددڤ, سوڠݢوه مره برباءو تيدق (a person's character is more important than their outward appearance) · da skønhed kommer indefra (a person's character is more important than their outward appearance) · ms buah masak merah belum tentu manis rasanya (a person's character is more important than their outward appearance)